Drug-Free Workplace Policy

This is your official notification that SMF ENERGY CORPORATION and its Subsidiaries (the “Company”) has a no tolerance “Drug-Free Workplace” policy. All employees are absolutely prohibited from unlawfully manufacturing, distributing, possessing or using controlled or illegal substances in the workplace. It is a condition of employment to refrain from taking illegal drugs on or off the job.

The Company has established this drug-free workplace policy to deter use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace by establishing standards and procedures for drug testing of certain employees and job applicants. We hope this policy will result in a safe working environment for all of the Company employees.

“No employer shall discharge, discipline, or discriminate against an employee solely upon the employee’s voluntarily seeking treatment while under the employment of the employer for a drug related problem if the employee has not previously tested positive for drug use, entered an employee assistance program for drug related problems or entered an alcohol and drug rehabilitation program.”

Employees will be subjected to the following drug tests:

Job Applicant Testing: All applicants for a position with this company will be tested and a refusal to submit or a positive confirmed test result will be used as a basis to reject the applicant for employment at that time.

Reasonable Suspicion Testing: An employee may be required to submit for testing when the employer has a reasonable suspicion, as defined in the Act, that an employee is using or has used drugs in violation of the employer’s policy; the Company has a reason to suspect an employee when it has an articulable belief that the employee possesses or uses drugs or alcohol at the workplace; is observed intoxicated or impaired by drugs or alcohol; has been reported by a reliable and credible source as using drugs; has tampered with a drug test; has caused or contributed to or been involved in an accident while at work, or is engaged in abnormal conduct or erratic behavior while at work, or shows significant deterioration in work performance; and evidence is present that an employee has used, possessed, sold, solicited, or transferred drugs while working. The reason to suspect shall be based on specific and particular facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in light of experience.

Routine Fitness for Duty Testing: An employee may be asked to submit to a drug test as part of a routinely scheduled fitness for duty medical examination that is either part of the employer’s established policy or that is scheduled routinely for all members of an employment classification or group.

The company initially establishes two (2) employment classifications which require routine fitness for duty testing. Those classifications are (1) operators of hazardous equipment or machinery and (2) company drivers. All employees so classified must submit to annual testing.

DOT Testing: The Department of Transportation (DOT) prohibits certain conduct and requires random drug and alcohol testing of safety-sensitive transportation employees with commercial driver’s licenses as defined by Title 49: Transportation Part 40 and Part 382--: Title (Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing). Safety-sensitive transportation employees also must comply with policies for the state you work in with respect to drug and alcohol use and testing, which in some cases, may be more stringent than DOT requirements.

Follow-Up Testing: An employee who in the course of employment enters an employee assistance program for drug related problems or alcohol and drug rehabilitation program, may be tested as a follow-up measure and thereafter on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis for two (2) years thereafter.

Drugs Tested: You may be tested for any or all of the following:

Reporting Use of Prescription or Non-Prescription Medications: An employee or job applicant will be able to confidentially report the use of prescription or non-prescription medications, both before and after being tested, as presence of those medications in the body may affect the outcome of the test. A list of most common medications by brand name, common name and by chemical name, which may alter or affect a drug test, is attached.

Before a Positive Drug Test Result

If you are experiencing problems with drugs or alcohol, you are encouraged to contact an employee assistance program. You may use your employee assistance program if you are eligible through CIGNA or from the assistance programs list attached. In either case, the information will be kept strictly confidential.

If you voluntarily come forward and seek help prior to being required to submit to a drug or alcohol test, no disciplinary action will be taken against you. However, you will be expected to perform your job and report for work unless your treatment program counselor requires you to miss work. Enrollment in a treatment program or attending counseling will not grant you a license to violate any Company policies or shield you from disciplinary actions for such violations. The Company reserves the right under certain circumstances including, but not limited to, safety and security to reassign you to another position.

After a Positive Test Result

If you have confirmed positive test results, we will send you a letter within five (5) days of our receipt of notification from the Medical Review Officer notifying us of your positive test result. The letter will outline your rights and the manner in which you may challenge a positive test result. You are responsible for any costs associated with the challenge.

After you return to work, follow-up testing for drugs and alcohol will occur on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis for a period of time for two (2) years. If you test positive for drugs or alcohol following the completion of the primary phase of your treatment program, you will be terminated and your unemployment benefits may be denied. If you do not complete your drug or alcohol treatment program or do not comply with the terms of your treatment program, you will be terminated and your employment benefits may be denied.

Challenges to Test Results

You have the right to challenge any confirmed positive result. All challenges must be filed within five (5) working days of receiving notification of such results. The first stage requires that you explain or contest the result in writing to the Company’s Human Resource Department. If your explanation is unsatisfactory, you will be notified of such in writing within fifteen (15) days of the date your challenge was received. At that time, you will be provided with a copy of your positive test result and the name and address of the laboratory. If you were involved in an accident and denied medical and/or indemnity benefits, you may file an administrative challenge by filing a Claim for Benefits with a Judge of Compensation Claims. If no workplace injury occurred, you may challenge the test results in a court of competent jurisdiction. If you decide to challenge the test results, it is your responsibility to notify the laboratory that you are challenging the test result. You will be solely responsible for all costs associated with such a challenge.

• Within 180 days after written notification of a positive test result, the applicant/employee shall be permitted by the Company to have a portion of the specimen re-tested, at the expense of the applicant/employee. This should be explained in detail in the initial letter of notification to the applicant/employee.
• If the applicant/employee desires to have the specimen tested at another laboratory, have the first laboratory transfer the specimen to the second laboratory. The Company will not make the transfer.
• The employee/applicant can administratively challenge the results of a drug test by filing a claim with a Judge of Compensation Claims within thirty (30) days after receipt of the employer’s response to his/her explanation.

Cost of Testing

The Company shall pay the cost of the initial and confirmation drug tests, which it requires of employees. An employee shall pay the cost of any additional drug tests not required by the employer.

Confidentiality

All information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda, and drug and alcohol test results, written or otherwise received by the Company through this Policy are confidential communications and will be maintained in a separate file. The Company, any laboratory, employee assistance program, drug or alcohol treatment program or their agents who receive or have access to this information concerning drug test results shall keep it confidential. Release of such information under any other circumstances shall be solely pursuant to a signed written informed consent form, unless such release is compelled by a hearing officer or court of competent jurisdiction or if deemed appropriate by a professional or occupational licensing board in a related disciplinary proceeding. Additionally, the Company, its agent, the laboratory or treatment program shall not be prohibited from releasing this information when consulting legal counsel in actions brought under or related to the state’s statutes for drug testing in which you work, or when such information is relevant to its defense in civil or administrative matter.

Consequences of Testing Positive or Refusal to Allow Test

Job Applicants: An applicant who refuses a drug test will not be hired. An applicant who submits to a drug test which is both positive and confirmed as positive will not be hired. An employed Worker who has not been injured: In the event an employed worker, who has not been injured, refuses to submit to a drug test or has tested positive and confirmed positive he/she may be subject to one or more of the following requirements:

• Attend educational seminars and courses and participate in an employee assistance program.
• Require attendance at rehabilitation programs.
  
• Agree to reasonable discipline, which may include job transfer to a less hazardous position, probationary employment and/or reduction in compensation.
  
• Immediate discharge from employment.

An Employed Worker who is injured: In the event an employed worker is injured in the course and scope of is/her employment and refuses to submit to a drug test or who submits and is tested pursuant to Company policy and who has a positive confirmation of a drug he/she shall:

• Forfeit their eligibility for medical and indemnity benefits under the Workers Compensation Act for the state you work in.
  
• Forfeit their eligibility for unemployment benefits.
  
• Be terminated from employment.
  
• Otherwise subject to the sanctions provided above for an employed worker who is not injured.

Convictions

If you are convicted of any drug related crime (sale, use or possession), you must notify the Company’s Human Resources Department within five (5) days of your conviction. Failure to notify them of such conviction is grounds for termination.

DEFINITIONS

The definitions used in this Drug-Free Workplace Policy are:

Alcohol means ethyl alcohol (ethanol). References to use alcohol include use of any beverage, mixture or preparation containing ethyl alcohol.

Chain of Custody refers to the methodology of tracking specified materials or substances for the purpose of maintaining control and accountability from initial collection to final disposition for all such materials or substances and providing for accountability at each stage in handling, testing, storing and reporting of test results.

Collection Site means a place where individuals present themselves for the purpose of providing a specimen to be analyzed for the presence of drugs.

Collection Site Person means a person provided by an approved laboratory who instructs and assists individuals at a collection site and who receives and makes initial examination of the specimen provided by those individuals.

Confirmation Test, Confirmed Test or Confirmed Drug Test means a second analytical procedure run on a sample that was positive on the initial screening test. The confirmation test must be different in scientific principle from that of the initial test procedure. The confirmation method must be capable of providing requisite specificity, sensitivity and quantitative accuracy. The confirmation test for alcohol will be gas chromatography and the confirmation test for all drugs will be gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Controlled Substance is any substance which is not legally obtainable or which can only be legally obtained by prescription from a licensed medical practitioner.

GC/MS means gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Division means the Division of Workers Compensation of the Department of Labor and Employment Security of the state in which you work.

Drug means alcohol, including distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages and intoxicating liquors, amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), hallucigens, methaqualone, opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, synthetic narcotics, designer drugs, or a metabolite of any substance listed herein.

Drug Test means any chemical, biological or physical instrumental analysis administered by a laboratory certified by the United States Department of Health and Human Services or licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration for the purpose of determining the presence/absence of a drug or its metabolites.

Employee means a person who performs services for a salary, wages or other remuneration for an employer and is covered by the Workers Compensation Act.

Employee Assistance Program means an established program capable of providing expert assessment of employee personal concerns; confidential and timely identification services with regard to employee drug abuse; referrals of employees for appropriate diagnosis, treatment, and assistance; and follow-up services for employees who participate in the program and require monitoring after returning to work. If, in addition to the above activities, an Employee Assistance Program provides diagnostic and treatment services, these services shall in all cases be provided by service providers pursuant to S. 397.311(28).

Employer means a person or entity that employs individuals covered by the Workers Compensation Act for the state in which you work.

Fitness-For-Duty Testing - If you are required to have a fitness-for-duty physical on an annual or bi-annual basis because of federal, state or other requirements, a drug test will be included as part of the physical.

Illegal Substances means any substance which is not legally obtainable or which is legally obtainable, but has not been legally obtained. This includes the following drugs: amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids (marijuana), cocaine, methaqualone, methadone, opiates, propoxyphene and PCP, which are used unlawfully or abused. Unlawful usage refers to the illegal obtaining, possessing and/or using of a drug as defined by the Controlled Substances Act or state or local regulations. This term also includes prescribed drugs not legally obtained, prescribed drugs not being used for prescribed purposes and over-the-counter drugs not being used according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Impairment - This policy is primarily concerned with the effects of alcohol/drug use in performance, regardless of when the substances were ingested. This concern, therefore, considers impairment as not only being under the influence of a substance, but also the after-effects of usage, e.g. hangover, withdrawal symptoms, fatigue, etc.

Initial Drug Test means a sensitive, rapid and reliable procedure to identify negative and presumptive positive specimens. All initial tests shall use an immunoassay procedure or an equivalent, or shall use a more accurate scientifically accepted method approved by the Agency for Health Care Administration as such more accurate technology becomes available in a cost-effective form.

Job Applicant means a person who has applied for a position with an employer and has been offered employment conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test, and may have begun work pending the result of the drug test. For a public employer, a “Job Applicant” is a person who has applied for special-risk or safety-sensitive position.

Laboratory means a facility, inside or outside the state you work in licensed by the Agency for Healthcare Administration or in certain cases, a facility certified by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to analyze specimens for detection of drugs.

Legal Substance includes any prescribed substances or over-the-counter medication that has been legally obtained and is used for the purpose for which it was prescribed or manufactured. Employees who lawfully use over-the-counter or prescribed medications are responsible for understanding how their job performance may be affected and are responsible for reporting to their supervisor any potential impairment in their ability to perform their duties.

Medical Review Officer or MRO means a licensed physician, employed with or contracted by an employer, who is responsible for receiving and reviewing all confirmation results from the laboratory. The MRO is responsible for contacting all positively tested individuals to inquire about possible prescriptive or over-the-counter medications, which could have caused a positive test, result. The MRO must have knowledge of substance abuse disorders and have the appropriate medical training to interpret and evaluate a positive test result with prescriptive or other relevant medical information.

Non-Prescription Controlled Substances means amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), hallucinogens, methaqualone, opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, synthetic narcotics, and designer drugs obtained without a prescription.

Non-Prescription Medication means medication that is authorized pursuant to state and federal law for general distribution and use without a prescription in the treatment of human disease, ailments or injuries.

Positive Screening Result is a screening result from a urinalysis, blood test or other controlled substance or alcohol test indicating that controlled substances or alcohol are present in the employee/applicant’s system.

Post-Injury Testing - If you are injured on the job and require medical attention beyond first-aid, you must submit to a drug and alcohol test. If you could have caused or contributed to the cause of an injury requiring medical attention beyond first aid, you must submit to a drug and alcohol test.

Post-Accident Testing - If you caused, could have caused, or contributed to the cause of an accident where total property damage exceeds $100.00, you must submit to a drug and alcohol test.

Post Treatment Testing (Follow-Up Testing) - If you enter the employee assistance program for drug or alcohol related problems or enter an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, you must submit to drug or alcohol testing as a follow-up to such a program on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis for a period of two years.

Prescription Medication means a drug or medication obtained pursuant to a prescription as defined by statues for the state you work in.

Public Employer means any agency within the state, county or municipal government that employs individuals for salary, wages or other remuneration.

Reasonable Suspicion of Drug Testing means drug testing based on a belief than an employee is using or has used drugs in violation of the employer’s policy, drawn from specific objective and articulable facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in light of experience. Among other things, such facts and inferences may be based upon:

• Observable phenomena while at work, such as direct observation of drug use or the physical symptoms of manifestations of being under the influence of a drug.
  
• Abnormal conduct or erratic behavior while at work or a significant deterioration in work performance.
  
• A report of drug use, provided by a reliable and credible source.
  
• Evidence that an individual has tampered with a drug test during his/her employment with the current employer.
  
• Information that an employee has caused, contributed to, or been involved in an accident while at work.
  
• Evidence that an employee has used, possessed, sold, solicited, or transferred drugs while working or while on the employer’s premises or while operating the employer’s machinery, vehicle, or equipment.

Reason to Suspect means an articulated belief than an employee possesses or uses drugs or alcohol at the workplace, is intoxicated or impaired by drugs or alcohol, based on specific and particularized facts and reasonable inferences drawn from these facts in light of experiences.

Safety Sensitive Position means evidence than an employee has used, possessed, sold, solicited, or transferred drugs while working or while on the employer’s premises or while operating the employer’s vehicle, machinery, or equipment.

Special-Risk Position means, with respect to a public employer, a position that is required to be filled by a person who is certified under Chapter 633 or Chapter 943.

Specimen means a tissue of product of the human body capable of revealing the presence of alcohol and/or drugs or their metabolites.

Threshold Detection Level means the level at which the presence of a drug or alcohol can be reasonably expected to be detected by an initial and a confirmatory test performed by a laboratory that meets standards established herein. The threshold detection level indicates the level at which valid conclusions can be drawn that the drug or alcohol is present in the employee’s sample.

Under the Influence means that the employee is affected by drugs and alcohol or the combination of drugs and alcohol in a detectable manner. A determination of such influence can be established by a professional opinion, a scientifically valid test, or in some cases, by a lay person’s opinion.

OVER-THE-COUNTER AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS THAT COULD ALTER THE OUTCOME OF A DRUG TEST

Alcohol:
All liquid medications containing ethyl alcohol (ethanol). Read the label for alcohol content.

Amphetamines:
Obetrol, Biphetamine, Desoxyn, Dexedrine, Didrex

Cannabinoids (Marijuana):
Marinol (Dronabinol, THC)

Cocaine:
Cocaine HCI topical solution (Roxanne)

Opiate:
Paregoric, Parepectolin, Donnagel PG, Tylenol with Codeine, Empirin with Codeine, Aspirin with Codeine, Robitussin AC, Guiatuss AC, Novahistine DH, Novahistine Expectorant, Dilaudid (hydromorphone), MS Contin and Roxanol (Morphine Sulfate, Percadon, Vicodin, etc.)

Barbiturates:
Phenobarbital, Tuinal, Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, Lotusate, Fiorinal, Fioricate, Esgic, Butisol, Mebaral, Butabarbital, Phrenilin, Triad, etc.

Benzodiazepines:
Ativan, Azene, Clonopin, Dalmane, Diazepam, Librium, Xanax, Serax, Tranxene, Valium Verstran, Halcio, Poxipam, Restoril, Centrax

Methodane:
Dolophine, Methadose

Propoxyphene:
Darvocet, Darvon N, Dolene, etc.

If you are given this list as preparation for a drug or alcohol test, it is imperative for you to bring a picture ID with you to the collection site, a Release of Confidential Information form, and to report to the testing technician any prescribed or over-the-counter medications you have taken during the past thirty (30) days.

MISCELLANEOUS

• A notice of drug testing in vacancy announcements shall be included for those positions where drug testing is required.
  
• A notice of the Company’s drug testing policy shall be posted in an appropriate and conspicuous location on the Company’s premises. Copies of the policy are made available for inspection during regular business hours by the general public.
  
• All drug testing will be conducted by a company-designated laboratory, which is licensed and approved by the Agency for Health Care Administration. The testing will be conducted with appropriate chain of custody procedures in place to ensure accuracy and continuity in specimen collection, handling and transfer and storage.
  
• This company does not maintain an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The purpose of an EAP is to provide help to employees and their families who suffer from alcohol, drug abuse or other problems. We do, however, maintain a list of local providers of employee assistance, drug and alcohol treatment and family services that employees may access without company involvement.

The Company will provide an annual education course to assist employees and/or supervisors in identifying personal and emotional problems, which may result in misuse of alcohol or drugs. This course will also include a presentation on the legal, social, physical and emotional consequences of the misuse of alcohol or drugs.

• All applicants for employment and employees of the Company’s drug program and testing procedures shall be informed of the drug policy. An applicant is defined as a person who has applied for a position with the Company and who has been offered a job contingent upon successfully passing a drug test. Two copies of the policy’s consent form shall be given to the applicant; one signed, dated and returned to the company and one kept by the employee.
  
• If the initial test is negative, the company may request a confirmation test, at the expense of the Company. If the initial test is positive, a confirmation test with the laboratory must be obtained, at the Company’s cost.
  
• The Company shall provide the employee or applicant, upon request in writing, a copy of the test results. An employee or job applicant whose drug test result is confirmed positive in accordance with this program, shall not, by virtue of the result alone, be deemed to have a “handicap” or “disability” as defined under federal, state or local handicap and disability discrimination laws.
  
• The Company shall employ or contract with a medical review officer (MRO) who is responsible for receiving and reviewing all confirmation results from a laboratory. This medical review officer is responsible for contacting all positive tested individuals to inquire about possible prescriptive or over-the-counter medications, which could have caused a positive result. The MRO shall notify the Company’s Director of Human Resources only of the verbal and written results. Confidentiality of drug testing shall be maintained.
• Employees and applicants have the right to consult the company’s Medical Review Officer (MRO) for technical information regarding prescription and nonprescription medications. Your MRO is Dr. Neil J. Dash, MD, Phone No. 800-526-9341.

This policy supersedes all previous drug-free workplace policies. The Company reserves the right to amend, change or alter the Policy without the consent of its employees.